A reader of ours had a request for a new category, where we would gather all of our low calorie recipes for those trying to lose weight or follow a low cal diet. Sounds like a great idea, especially since we are eating all the food you see us making for this blog! At least Jake is exercising daily, but I can’t say I am. Now that swimming season is over there is no need to hide underneath the hoodies! So, trying recipes like this Quinori Salad is the best solution for me right now. Somehow Jake managed to make it very tasty, without a drop of olive oil (which to a Greek person sounds surreal)! I was easily convinced after tasting it and washing the dishes was so quick and easy without olive oil!

Quinori is a mix of legumes and seeds, including quinoa, sesame seeds, lentils and chickpeas. After being boiled, quinori can become a salad or soup. We found this mix at Botanica here in Patra, but I also saw it at Bamboo Vegan in Athens. However, if you can’t find it, you can use another legume mix or just plain quinoa.

Ingredients to make 4 servings of this Quinori Salad (352 calories per serving):

• 2 cups (350 grams) of quinori or quinoa
• 4 small tomatoes diced (1 cup of diced tomatoes = 200 grams)
• 1 cucumber diced (1 cup of diced cucmber = 200 grams)
• 2 green onions (use only the white part), diced (30 grams)
• 1/4 cup of pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of paprika powder
• 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder

Instructions:

1. Boil the quinori (or quinoa) in 4 cups of water for 15-20 minutes (if it drinks all the water, remove from heat!).
2. Strain quinori and empty into a bowl.
3. Add the spices and the lemon juice; mix well.
4. Add the diced green onions, tomatoes and cucumber; stir and top with the pomegranate seeds.
5. Serve while quinori is still warm for maximum pleasure!

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